Presents
by bookgirl318
Summary: Katniss has never been good at giving presents...and she wants to come up with something special to give Peeta for their anniversary.


_**This is a reedited version of the first piece of fanfiction that I ever wrote a couple of years ago. I hope you enjoy it!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: All credit for characters go to Suzanne Collins.**_

 **Presents**

 **By Bookgirl318**

Katniss had never been good at giving presents.

"What am I going to give him this time?" She thinks about the situation she is in. Before the war, there were never any real reasons to give presents. There were no holidays, per se. Birthdays were the only things really celebrated. Even then, there usually had not been enough money for a cake, let alone a present. It was sheer dumb luck in giving Prim the goat, which up to this point was the best gift she had ever given. But now, so many years after the war, things were different. There were a few annual memorial celebrations, along with birthdays and anniversaries. That was how she landed in the situation she was in now. For what was coming, there was no excuse not to give. She had plenty of money to afford one, along with cake. So, she had to come up with an idea soon for the two events that would soon be approaching...

It was all Peeta's fault! He was the one who made her fall in love with him so that she ended up marrying him, And because of that, she was now obligated not only to give a gift for his birthday, but their anniversary, as well. Both events were only 2 months apart, with their wedding anniversary coming up in the next week. And it wasn't just any anniversary. They had been married for 15 years. It was special. She knew Peeta would definitely think so. She did too. It was amazing they had been together this long and still felt the same feelings, maybe even more so, than they did the first year.

It wasn't that giving presents bothered her. They didn't, for she loved both giving and receiving them. But it was the fact that her gifts always seemed to pale next to what Peeta always gave her. Starting with the pearl and the locket in the arena of the 75th games, everything he gave had so much meaning. Just when she thought he could not outdo the last one, he always came up with something better the next time. A mounted and framed dandelion to celebrate their engagement, a portrait of her family for her birthday one year, and on their tenth anniversary he suggested finally getting wedding rings to honor their marriage. He even went so far with this to even think of getting them engraved, the words he chose fraught with meaning. On the inside of his was written "Real," and hers lovingly inscribed with "Always." Her thumb daily rubbed over the word to remind her of him.

She gave him gifts, too, but from her point of view they just didn't seem to have the same depth of feeling. New paints, pencils, easels, or other art supplies that he needed, or baking supplies or tools he had run out of. He needed them and appreciated them, but for once she wanted to do something that would make him see how much thought went behind the gift and show how strong her love was for him. She had been mulling over this dilemma for weeks now, and still had no idea what to do. She thought of baking him something, for once. But her skills were terrible, no matter how much he taught her over the years. She tried art, as well, with little success. Maybe she should get Peeta something to remember his family by? He missed them so much…but, she didn't really have anything to give in that way. She even tinkered with the idea of going the route of an intimate gift like lingerie, but Peeta always told her he didn't need that kind of stuff to enjoy the physical aspect of their life. Katniss was getting a headache thinking so much about it all.

She was now at the desperation point of needing help and ideas. The problem with that was who to go to. She could call up Annie, but she would probably say something to the effect that anything she gave him would be perfect. She could try Johanna, but that would bring ridicule, jokes, and mandates to just "jump his bones." Not helpful in any case. Haymitch always gave her good advice, but was in a bad state lately with waiting on his next liquor shipment, as well as never being married. _He still might be the best choice,_ she thought, when another person hit her mind who would be perfect.

"Delly!" Katniss yelled out. Immediately, she ran out the door towards the middle of town. Delly's house was there where she lived with Thom, whom she married a year after returning to District 12. Katniss reaches the house within 5 minutes. Panting, she knocks on the door. If Delly wasn't home, she could still stop by Haymitch's. After a few seconds, though, the door opens and her very pregnant friend stands there with a huge smile on her face when she sees who it is.

"Katniss! It's great to see you. What can I do for you?" Delly asks.

"I really need some advice if you have the time." Katniss smiles at the always happy woman.

"Of course! Come on in and sit down. I'll make us some tea." Katniss comes in and follows Delly into the kitchen. Delly starts heating the stove and puts the teapot on. After a few minutes it's boiling, and she takes it off and finishes making the tea, pouring two cups and placing them on the table.

"So, now tell me what is going on." Delly begins.

"Well," Katniss hesitates while sipping on her cup. "Peeta and I have our anniversary next week, and I just can't think of what to get for him. His gifts are always so wonderful and mine seem like afterthoughts compared to them."

Delly laughs, "Katniss, you need to relax. Stop putting yourself down and stop comparing your gift giving to Peeta's." The huntress looks downcast as her friend scolds her.

The kind woman takes her hand. "First of all, it is just his nature to give thoughtful gifts. It probably just doesn't come as easy for you. Secondly, no matter what you give, Peeta will love it because he loves you more than life itself, and anything coming from you means a lot to him."

"I know," Katniss sighs in reply, "but I want to really come up with something that will really show him all that I feel for him."

Delly thinks for a moment. "If you really want advice, then what I would say is to think about Peeta. Think about who he is, not just what he likes. Go beyond that if you can. Try to think about what are the true desires of his heart. That's what I have tried to do when giving gifts to Thom. And I've actually had some good inspirations when I do! Thom appreciated the last gift I gave so much that I became pregnant with this one." She points to her very round stomach.

"The desires of his heart…" Katniss ponders this idea for a minute. It at least gives her something to think about, even if it isn't a specific idea. With that, Katniss decides to not take any more of her friend's time.

She rises from the table. "Thanks Delly, for the tea and the talk. I think I will be going now. I really appreciate just being able to talk with you."

"It's alright, Katniss. You are welcome any time to come and talk. I'm your friend too, you know!" Katniss begins to walk out the door. "Let me know how it all turns out!" Delly shouts out and waves goodbye. With that, she leaves and heads to the only place Katniss knows that she can think clearly.

Her spot in the woods was another ten minutes from Delly's house, but Katniss relishes the fresh air and time to think. When she finally gets to her spot, she sits down amidst the lush green trees and finally puts her mind to the idea she had been left with. _The desires of Peeta's heart_ , she keeps saying to herself. What were they anyway? What did Peeta want with his whole heart more than anything else?

As soon as that last question crosses her mind, the answer comes quickly. And with that, it also scares her more than anything she has ever experienced. She knows exactly what the desire of Peeta's heart was, and it was something she had openly denied him throughout their marriage. It was a topic they had discussed, skirted around, and fought over so much over the last 15 years that it finally came to a point where they had stopped talking about it. Peeta was too tired of arguing and Katniss knew he had decided that she would never change her mind. She had hid the topic in the back of her mind for at least the last couple of years, but this had brought it to the forefront once again.

"A baby," Katniss finally whispers to herself. Once she says it her mind started going a hundred miles an hour. At first, all her list of reasons for not having a baby quickly rises up. She didn't want to put any children through the torture of reapings and the Games. But, she had to admit that in fifteen years, the government had stabilized and she was now confident that the Games would never come back. She was also afraid of being a failure as a mother. But Peeta had consistently reminded her in their arguments that he believed Katniss would make an amazing mother. She had loved and taken care of Prim so fiercely that he knew that she would do the same for their children. She knew she ultimately would too, but didn't she lose Prim anyway? How would she be able to lose her own child? Fear for their safety would overwhelm her.

But doesn't that mean the Capitol has a piece of her? That her keeping this fear of having a baby means that she was letting what had happen control her. The best way to overcome the destruction of life was to make life. Wouldn't it be the final insult from her to the Capitol and its old ways to bring life into the world after so much death? She begins to sit tall, realizing what was happening to her resolve. It was melting away with each answer to the argument. The final touch was her next thought. _Peeta deserves to be a father_. His kindness, compassion, and devotion would make him the best, she had no doubt. After the loss of his entire family, he should have the chance to continue his life on. She has been the barrier to it. She smiles as she thinks about a little girl with his blonde curls and maybe her grey eyes dancing around the house, baking with Peeta, and walking through the woods with her. She had never before visualized what her child might look like, but seeing that vision now cements her decision. With that, she gets up and literally races home to make preparations as she now knows what she is going to do.

Once there, she runs up to her bathroom and opens the medicine cabinet. The little bottle of pills is in there and she grabs them. It was funny that she only had to take one every three months, and today was the actual day she was scheduled to take her dose. Only this time, she has another idea for them. She finds a little box, places the bottle inside it and finds some blue paper to wrap it up. Katniss then takes some paper and writes a little note to go with the present and places it on top. She puts everything in her dresser drawer and breathes a deep sigh. This was the beginning of some serious life changes. She had to get ready to face them.

XXXXXX

A week later, Katniss was pacing as she was waits for Peeta to come home from the bakery. Her nervousness had never been so high as it was now. Not only because of the gift, but also the implications of it weighed upon her. Finally, she hears the door open and the clomping of feet coming through the kitchen and into the family room where she sits.

"Katniss?" Peeta calls out, "Are you in here?"

"I'm here," she replies, and rims over to him, firmly kissing him to bid him welcome and show her excitement about the evening.

"Wow!" he says, "Someone's glad to have me home! Happy Anniversary Katniss."

She looks deep into his eyes. "Happy Anniversary Peeta. I love you. I can't believe it has been fifteen years." she says.

"Neither can I. It's gone by so fast, and you have made it wonderful." She blushes at his words. He always has this way of saying the most loving things to her in his compliments. "Is dinner ready?" he asks.

"Yes, come on!" she says, pulling his arm towards the dining room. They enjoy a delicious meal together that Katniss prepared that day. As Peeta brings out the dessert that he had made while at work, Katniss retrieves the gift from upstairs. They eat the amazing cake for a minute, and then Peeta breaks the silence.

"Here, a present for you to celebrate." He hands her a small velvet, somewhat flat box. The only other time she had ever received such a box was when he presented her with a wedding ring. But this wasn't square like that box. It has a more rectangle shape. She decides to just open it and when she does she is stunned. It is a gold chain necklace, but on the necklace is something she had not seen in years. The pendant is a pearl, and as soon as she sees it she knows without asking that it was not just any pearl, but the pearl that Peeta had given her on the beach in the Games.

"Oh Peeta!" she cries, "It's the pearl! It's so beautiful." The pearl was in a gold setting. Peeta tells her to look on the back of the setting. When she does, she sees that it has been inscribed with a heart that had the letters P and K inside. Once again, his gift had so much meaning and thoughtfulness to it. She thanks him and gives him another kiss. She then remembers that she needs to give him her gift. _Here goes nothing_ , she thinks.

He tears the paper off of the box and opens it, pulling out the bottle of pills. If it hadn't been such an intense moment, Katniss would have laughed at the look of complete confusion on his face.

"Um, Katniss, why are you giving me your bottle of birth control pills?" he finally asks.

"Because Peeta, I'm not taking them anymore, so I am giving them to you. I got you a brand new complete set of canvases, too," she says stepping near to him. "But this gift," she points to the bottle, "is a small part of what I really want to give you.".Taking it all in and thinking for a minute, it eventually dawns on him what she was trying to say.

"Katniss, are you telling me you want to have a baby?" he asks hesitantly, a hope on his face that she had not seen in a long time.

"Yes, Peeta, I am," she states simply.

"After all this time…" he lets his thought trail off. After a moment, he looks up into her eyes. "Are you sure? I mean, you were so adamant about not having one."

"I changed my mind," Katniss says with a shrug of her shoulders.

"You changed your mind? Katniss. I don't want you doing this just to make me happy. If we do this, then I want you to want it too." He takes her small hand in his larger one.

Katniss sighs. "I do Peeta. I've been thinking over all the arguments I had about not having a baby and finally came to the realization that those reasons aren't valid anymore." She takes his other hand so that they are both joined together. "I'm not saying that I'm not scared. I'm terrified, but at the same time, I am sure this is what I want with you more than anything. So, your gift for our anniversary is that I am giving you these pills and telling you that I am ready to have a baby if you are."

There is a moment of silence before her husband picks her up and twirls her around. "It took you long enough!" he calls out with glee before placing her back down and places his forehead on her. "And you bet I am ready. I have been ready for such a long time." He sighs. "Thank you, Katniss," and they came together in a passionate kiss full of love, longing, and hope for all that the future had in store. Peeta picks her up and leads her upstairs where he let her fully know for most of the night how much he appreciated her gift.

 **TWO MONTHS LATER**

This time, the idea for what to give him was so simple that Katniss only needed a moment of thought to decide. She takes the little stick and places it in a small rectangular box and wraps it quickly. She writes a little note and once again waits for Peeta to come home. After her nervousness the last time, she is practically giddy with what she was doing now.

When her husband comes through the door, she runs to him, throwing her arms around his neck and calling out "Happy Birthday Peeta!"

He gives her a thorough kiss, "Thank you! What a welcome. It smells wonderful. Did you bake?"

"I did!" she smiles mischievously. "I made you a cake. I think I did pretty good this time." She had spent most of the morning working on it and was pretty proud of the result.

"Well, I can't wait to have some, let's eat then!" and he leads her to the dining room to celebrate. As they eat, Katniss finds that the cake may not be as good as his creations, but it was definitely the best one she had ever made, and Peeta makes his appreciation know by eating two pieces. Finally, he sits back and she knows it is now or never.

She gets the box out and places it on the table in front of him. He is intrigued by the shape and size, she can tell. He quickly opens the gift. When he grabs the pregnancy test stick out of the box, there is no confusion as he knows what it is. He looks at it and the lines it reveals, and then he stares up at Katniss with an expression like he does not believe what he is seeing.

She nods and smiles. "Why don't you look at the note," she says with her hand motioning to the piece of paper. He does and sees words that melt his heart. On it is written:

 _Happy Birthday Peeta! Love, Katniss and Baby._

He looks up again and the tears springing up in his eyes are unmistakable.

"I'm going to be a father. We're going to be parents," he states as the full realization sinks in.

"Yeah, we are. In about seven and a half months," she tells him.

There is a smile that lights up his face as he looks at her with all the love and admiration in his heart. "You are amazing, you know that?" he tells her.

Katniss looks into his eyes. "You had a hand in it too, you know! This is one gift you can't give back. I hope you like it!" she states.

"Don't worry. Best birthday present ever!" he admits and together they laugh and kiss and love for the rest of the night. Before falling asleep, Katniss looks at her husband and sees complete happiness and peace on his face. She knows the next months will be difficult and the fear is most definitely not gone, but seeing him now, makes that she will face worth it.

She loved him that much.


End file.
